Maryland
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In 1988, Pressley Ridge opened a Treatment Foster Care (TFC) office in Baltimore becoming one of the first TFC program in Maryland. In a short period of time, the Baltimore program was serving more than 60 kids. Maryland's programs have expanded to include sites in Lanham, Frostburg and the District of Columbia and serve more than 150 children and families daily.
Program Highlight - Pressley Ridge Treatment Foster Care, Baltimore
The mission of treatment foster care is to serve seriously emotionally disturbed children by providing them with a highly structured treatment foster home.
The Treatment Foster Care program is guided by three core values:
- Children belong with families.
- A nurturing family environment is the most potent for behavior change in children.
- Unconditional care or never giving up ensures that each child has what he or she needs to succeed within a family setting.
Hours of Service
The Treatment Foster Care program provides 24-hour emergency on-call service. Office hours are from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday, and staff may be reached via our 24-hour on-call service.
Population Served
The program primarily serves children with mental health diagnoses and severe behavioral and emotional problems who are in need of out-of-home treatment.
Referral Sources
Referrals come through local departments of social services, the juvenile justice system, and the department of mental health.
Treatment Program Features
- Permanency Planning. TFC works to keep each child connected to his or her family or extended family throughout the time of placement in a TFC home. If reunification with the child's family is not possible, TFC will ensure continuation of family ties as appropriate. In instances where parental rights are or should be terminated, TFC works toward adoption, including but not limited to, possible adoption by the TFC family.
- Professional Treatment Parents. TFC families take on the responsibility of being the main agent of change for the child, as well as an advocate and collaborative member of the child and his or her birth family treatment team.
- Service Planning. To meet the specialized needs of each child an individualized treatment plan is developed with the participation of program staff, treatment parents, and other treatment team members. TFC's task is to design and implement the treatment plan, coordinate the various systems' delivery of requisite services, monitor its effectiveness, and modify the plan when necessary.